Normal Aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment & Dementia

Many individuals start experiencing memory loss and fear that they have dementia. Family members and loved ones, you may be seeing changes in someone’s behavior and wonder if they are possibly developing dementia. You are not alone. If you are experiencing some memory loss problems, it does not necessarily mean that you have dementia. There are several other possible explanations for your memory loss, including:

Mismanaged medications

Anemia

Hormonal deficiencies

Stress

Electrolyte imbalance

Depression

Transient Ischemic Attacks

Infections

Delirium

Alcohol Use

Malnutrition

Very Early Signs and Symptoms

There are very early signs and symptoms of dementia, mild cognitive impairment, mild dementia, moderate dementia, and severe dementia. Biomarkers are indicators, such as changes in sensory abilities, or substances that appear in body fluids like blood, cerebrospinal fluid, or urine. Biomarkers can indicate exposure to a substance, the presence of a disease, or the progression of a disease over time. Such tools are critical to helping scientists detect and understand the very early signs and symptoms of dementia.

Mild Cognitive Impairment

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is when you are growing older and developing memory problems greater than what is expected for your age, but you are not experiencing personality changes or other problems that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers cannot yet definitively say that people with MCI will or will not go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease/dementia, or if its progress to Alzheimer’s disease/dementia can be prevented or delayed. Studies have shown that if you are experiencing MCI and also having trouble moving your legs and feet, you may be twice as likely to later develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Mild Dementia

Signs and symptoms include memory loss, confusion about the location of familiar places, taking longer than usual to accomplish normal daily tasks, trouble handling money and paying bills, poor judgment leading to bad decisions, loss of spontaneity and sense of initiative, mood and personality changes, increased anxiety or aggression.

Severe Dementia

If you feel that your condition is not related to outside causes, or that you may fall under one of the above categories, you should consider making an appointment with a physician or other medical specialist.